FELIPE VI

KING OF SPAIN

To all who present it and understand it.

Sabed: That the General Courts have approved and I come to sanction the following organic law.

PREAMBLE

The Rome Statute, an instrument establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), was adopted on 17 July 1998 and ratified by Spain on 24 October 2000, which entered into force for our country on 1 July 2002.

Article 123.1 of the Statute provides, after seven years since its entry into force, the convening of a Review Conference of the States Parties to examine the amendments to the Statute. This Review Conference took place in Kampala (Uganda) during the months of May and June 2010 and was adopted by consensus, in accordance with Article 121.3 of the Statute, two resolutions containing amendments to the Rome Statute. on war crimes (Resolution RC/Res.5) and on the crime of aggression (Resolution RC/Res.6).

The amendment contained in Resolution RC/Res.5, concerning war crimes, adds to those already included in Article 8.2 (e) of the Statute the use of certain weapons in conflicts other than international ones: the use of poison or poisoned weapons, toxic or similar suffocating gases, or any liquid or analogue device, and of bullets which are easily widened or crushed in the human body, such as hard-shirted bullets, which does not totally cover the internal part or having incisions.

The amendment contained in Resolution RC/Res.6, concerning the crime of aggression, suppresses Article 5.2 of the Statute, which provides that the Court will exercise its jurisdiction with respect to the crime of aggression once a the disposition in which the crime is defined and enunciated in the conditions under which it will do so.

Similarly, this amendment introduces an article 8a, the first paragraph of which defines the crime of aggression as follows: " A person commits a crime of aggression when, being in a position to effectively control or direct the political or military action of a State, plans, prepares, initiates or performs an act of aggression which, by its characteristics, gravity and scale constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations. " lists a number of assumptions that are considered acts of aggression. Furthermore, new Articles 15a and 15b set out the conditions for the exercise of the jurisdiction of the ICC in relation to that crime in the case of referral of the case by a State (15a) and by the United Nations Security Council. (15b).

The ratification by Spain of the Kampala Amendments, which involve the extension of war crimes and the criminalization of the crime of aggression, entrenches our country's commitment to the defense of human rights. and the work of the International Criminal Court as an independent organization that embodies the paradigm of universal criminal justice and that it abandones the fight against impunity in the face of the most serious crimes committed against humanity.

Therefore, when the exercise of powers deriving from the Constitution is attributed to an international institution, it is appropriate that the ratification of the amendments be authorized by the Organic Law, as provided for in the article 93 of the Constitution.

Single item. Authorization of ratification.

The ratification by Spain of the amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, relating to war crimes and the crime of aggression, was authorized in Kampala on 10 and 11 June 2010.

Final disposition first. Competence title.

This Organic Law is dictated in accordance with the provisions of article 149.1.3. of the Constitution, which attributes exclusive competence to the State in matters of international relations.

Final disposition second. Entry into force.

This Organic Law shall enter into force the day following that of its publication in the "Official Gazette of the State".

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities, to keep and keep this organic law.

Madrid, 17 September 2014.

FELIPE R.

The President of the Government,

MARIANO RAJOY BREY

____________

Amendment to Article 8.

Add to Article 8 paragraph 2 (e) the following:

" xiii) Use poison or poisoned weapons;

xiv) Employing suffocating, toxic or similar gases or any liquid, material or similar device;

xv) Use bullets that are easily widened or crushed in the human body, such as hard-shirted bullets that do not fully coat the inside or have incisions. "

_____________

Amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court concerning the crime of aggression.

1. Delete Article 5 (2) of the Staff Regulations.

2. Insert the following text following Article 8 of the Statute:

" Article 8a. Crime of aggression.

1. For the purposes of this Statute, a person commits a "crime of aggression" when, being in a position to control or effectively direct the political or military action of a State, that person plans, prepares, initiates or performs an act of aggression which by its nature, gravity and scale constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, "act of aggression" means the use of force armed by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other form incompatible with the Charter of The United Nations. In accordance with Resolution 3314 (XXIX) of the United Nations General Assembly of 14 December 1974, any of the following acts, whether or not there is a declaration of war, shall be characterised as an act of aggression:

(a) The invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, even temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation, by the use of force, of the territory of another State or part of it;

(b) The bombing, by the armed forces of one State, of the territory of another State, or the use of any weapons by a State against the territory of another State;

c) The blocking of the ports or the coasts of a state by the armed forces of another State;

(d) The attack by the armed forces of a State against the ground, naval or air forces of another State, or against its merchant or air fleet;

(e) the use of armed forces of a State, which are located in the territory of another State with the agreement of the receiving State, in violation of the conditions laid down in the agreement or any extension of its presence in that territory after the termination of the agreement;

(f) The action of a State that allows its territory, which it has made available to another State, to be used by that other State to carry out an act of aggression against a third State;

g) The dispatch by a State, or on its behalf, of armed bands, irregular groups or mercenaries carrying out acts of armed force against another State of such gravity that are comparable to the acts listed above, or their substantial participation in such acts. "

3. Insert the following text following Article 15 of the Statute:

" Article 15a. Exercise of competence in respect of the crime of aggression (Broadcast by a State, proprio motu).

1. The Court may exercise jurisdiction in respect of the crime of aggression in accordance with Article 13 (a) and (c), subject to the provisions of this Article.

2. The Court may exercise its jurisdiction only in respect of crimes of aggression committed one year after the ratification or acceptance of the amendments by thirty States Parties.

3. The Court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of the crime of aggression in accordance with this Article, provided that a decision is taken after 1 January 2017 by the same majority of States Parties that are required for approval. of an amendment to the Statute.

4. The Court may, in accordance with Article 12, exercise jurisdiction over a crime of aggression resulting from an act of aggression committed by a State Party, unless that State Party has previously declared that it does not accept that jurisdiction. by the deposit of a declaration held by the Registrar. The withdrawal of such a declaration may be made at any time and shall be considered by the State Party within three years.

5. In respect of a State not Party to this Statute, the Court shall not exercise its jurisdiction in respect of the crime of aggression where it is committed by the nationals of that State or in the territory of that State.

6. The Prosecutor, if I come to the conclusion that there is a reasonable basis for initiating an investigation into a crime of aggression, will verify in the first place whether the Security Council has determined the existence of an act of aggression committed by the State in question. The Prosecutor shall notify the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the situation before the Court, attaching the documentation and other relevant records.

7. When the Security Council has made such a determination, the Prosecutor may initiate the investigation into a crime of aggression.

8. Where no such determination is made within six months of the date of notification, the Prosecutor may initiate the investigation procedures in respect of a crime of aggression, provided that the Section of Preliminary Questions, of in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 15, has authorised the initiation of the investigation into a crime of aggression, and the Security Council has not decided otherwise in accordance with Article 16.

9. The determination that there was an act of aggression carried out by a body outside the Court shall not prejudice the Court's own findings under this Statute.

10. This Article shall be without prejudice to the provisions relating to the exercise of jurisdiction in respect of other crimes referred to in Article 5. "

4. Insert the following text following Article 15a of the Statute:

" Article 15b. Exercise of competence in respect of the crime of aggression (Broadcast by the Security Council).

1. The Court may exercise jurisdiction in respect of the crime of aggression in accordance with Article 13 (b), subject to the provisions of this Article.

2. The Court may exercise its jurisdiction only in respect of crimes of aggression committed one year after the ratification or acceptance of the amendments by thirty States Parties.

3. The Court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of the crime of aggression in accordance with this Article, provided that a decision is taken after 1 January 2017 by the same majority of States Parties that are required for approval. of an amendment to the Statute.

4. The determination that there was an act of aggression carried out by a body outside the Court shall not prejudice the Court's own findings under this Statute.

5. This Article shall be without prejudice to the provisions relating to the exercise of jurisdiction in respect of other crimes referred to in Article 5. "

5. Insert the following text following paragraph 3 of Article 25 of the Statute:

" 3 bis. As regards the crime of aggression, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to persons who are in a position to effectively control or direct the political or military action of a State. '

6. Replace the first sentence of paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Staff Regulations with the following sentence:

" 1. The Elements of Crimes will help the Court to interpret and apply Articles 6, 7, 8 and 8a. "

7. Replace the heading of paragraph 3 of Article 20 of the Staff Regulations by the following paragraph; the remainder of the paragraph is not amended:

" 3. The Court shall not prosecute anyone who has been prosecuted by another court on grounds of facts also prohibited under Articles 6, 7, 8 or 8a unless the proceedings in the other court: "